Adolescents and the importance of abstinence It is necessary to teach adolescents to practice abstinence. By learning this important lesson, young people will be less likely to contract sexually transmitted diseases and will be safe from unwanted pregnancies that could lead to miscarriages. Three million people under age 20 in the United States are infected with a sexually transmitted disease each year. Given that 66% of high school students have had sexual intercourse before graduation, these numbers are not surprising (Planned Parenthood-Helping Young). The effects of sexually transmitted diseases can be devastating. Once a person contracts herpes, he has to deal with it for the rest of his life. The HIV virus puts a person on the fast track to death. Growing up is hard enough for a child without having to face their own mortality. I learned everything I wanted to know about STDs while attending religious school at my synagogue. I was 13 at the time, but I still vividly remember the experience eight years later. One Wednesday evening, the rabbis called all the eighth, ninth, tenth, and eleventh graders into the chapel for a special program. One of the teachers had prepared a slide show to demonstrate the effects that a sexually transmitted disease has on the human body. The first photos weren't too bad, showing little more than a few bumps around one girl's mouth. As the show went on, the slides became more and more gruesome. The genitals of a man with large sores showed the effects of herpes. Another slide showed the sole of a girl's foot that had a hole the size of a quarter, STDs eating away at it like termites do at an old house. I have never forgotten that night and wish every child... in the center of the card... to delay sexual intercourse. March 21, 1999.http://www.plannedparenthood.org/library/TEEN-Pregnancy/helpyoung.html>.Planned Parenthood. What to expect if you choose abortion. March 21, 1999.http://www.plannedparenthood.org/abortion/what-to-expect.htm>.Powell, Betsy. “Dangers of Adolescent Abortion.” San Francisco Chronicle April 5, 1996: A23Teen Pregnancy. CDC state-by-state pregnancy rates for teens ages 15 to 19. March 21, 1999.http://www.teenpregnancy.org/govrates.htm>.Teen Pregnancy. Teen pregnancy facts and statistics. March 21, 1999. http://www.teenpregnancy.org/factstats.htm>Teen Pregnancy. Teenage voices. March 21, 1999.http://www.teenpregnancy.org/teen/voices.html>Thomas, Cal. "The wrong message." World magazine. October 11, 1997. vol. 12, No. 21. Also found at http://www.worldmag.com/world/issue/10-11-97/national_2.asp>.